Best PlacesRiegelwood, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Riegelwood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Riegelwood ranks 38,831st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Riegelwood
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Riegelwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Riegelwood ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 76% of towns
- Cheap childcare$625 a month, better than 76% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 76% of towns
Where Riegelwood ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Household income$54,166 median, better than only 18% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Riegelwood
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Riegelwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,166, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Riegelwood's effective rate of 0.73%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Riegelwood
Riegelwood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Riegelwood.
Who works in Riegelwood, and how
Work in Riegelwood centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Riegelwood
The coast is about 38 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Riegelwood, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Riegelwood, month by month
Riegelwood sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Riegelwood
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Riegelwood
Schools across Riegelwood average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Town Creek ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Lincoln ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Acme Delco ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Brunswick MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Leland MiddleB · 45% proficient
- West Pender MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Brunswick County Early CollegeA+ · 98% proficient
- Pender Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- North Brunswick HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Riegelwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Riegelwood measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Riegelwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Riegelwood
Is Riegelwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Riegelwood ranks 38,831st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Riegelwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,617. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $54,166 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Riegelwood safe?
Riegelwood is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
Compare Riegelwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Riegelwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Riegelwood represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Riegelwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Riegelwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Riegelwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Riegelwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Riegelwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Riegelwood detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.